


In Your Dreams

by Ash573



Category: Fence (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26024227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash573/pseuds/Ash573
Summary: Nick has been having dreams about Seiji, dreams that have made it harder for Nick to remind himself that him and Seiji are only friends. But when they’re both up at night and too tired to hide their feelings that have been building up, the truth is bound to slip out.
Relationships: Nicholas Cox/Seiji Katayama
Comments: 8
Kudos: 97





	In Your Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys for all the support on my first fic so this is the second! This is much longer than expected lol. Enjoy!

Nick woke from his dream with a jolt. He wasn’t usually a light sleeper. He’d been known to sleep through multiple alarms, much to Seiji’s distaste, but tonight, Nick was restless, drifting in and out of sleep after his dream woke him up.

Nick knew he woke up briefly because of a dream, but it took him a moment to remember.

He had dreamt of Seiji... again. It was an ongoing thing now.

Including tonight’s dream, he dreamt of Seiji a total of five times. The first two dreams were harmless. Nick didn’t think it odd at first when Seiji would appear in his dreams, since other students from school and other members of the team appeared sometimes too.

But now it was the third dream Nick had of Seiji in two weeks. It was two weeks since they’d talked about Jesse and Seiji had hinted at there being “something” between him and Jesse. And two weeks since Seiji and Nick had started training alone.

They’d become good friends in the last two weeks because of their practice. Seiji was a wonderful teacher and more patient than Nick expected. Though to be fair, Nick had put the bar low since he expected Seiji to just keep interrogating him on the subject of Jesse, which he didn’t.

Though that wasn’t the only surprise Nick had gotten. Nick's emotions for Seiji had also become blurred in the past two weeks, which wasn’t at all something he anticipated.

Nick liked the attention Seiji was giving him. He felt like Seiji could see him. Truly. Not as Jesse but as Nick. It had made Nick’s thoughts start to wander…

Nick still considered him a rival in many ways, but Seiji had managed to twist Nick's other emotions as well. Nick hoped Seiji hadn’t realized the new effect he had on Nick every time he placed his hands on his shoulders, which only caused Nick to tense them even more.

That exact feeling was why Nick continued to dream of Seiji. In Nick’s dreams, they were always fencing. It felt so real at first, but every move the two made felt slowed down. Seiji’s blade clashed against Nick’s. Instead of trying to parry it, Nick hooked his leg behind Seiji's knee and he tumbled backwards. His épée flew out of his reach. Nick knelt down over him with his épée to Seiji’s mask.

The dream always ended there, but Nick still woke with a sweat at the thought of even trying something like that with Seiji. Not only was that move definitely not allowed in matches, it also made Nick question his intent... because in his dream, Nick wanted to take off their masks and kiss Seiji.

The mere idea of kissing Seiji should never have come into his mind. That was what sent Nick into a panic after the third dream. And the fourth. And it had just happened again now.

Nick couldn’t fall back asleep after that, so he faced the wall and clutched his pillow in his arms and tried to just rest, focusing on a small sound maybe coming from outside the window.

Then he realized the sound was a key board. He turned over on his side, now staring at the duck curtain. Just above the curtain he saw a small amount of light.

Nick reached down next to his bed and checked his phone. The time read 1:07 am. And it was Friday night. Well, Saturday morning. What was Seiji doing up?

Nick realized that after staring at his phone for too long, he was too awake to fall back asleep. So he rose from his bed and shifted the curtain to see Seiji sitting criss cross on his bed, typing furiously on his laptop and completely shut out from the world with his headphones on.

Seiji looked focused, his eyes never abandoning the computer screen. The only thing out of place was his hair. His hair wasn’t combed back like usual. The front pieces either stuck up sideways or were falling in his face.

Nick thought his hair looked good like that, but he thought before he said it aloud. Shit, maybe he was more tired than he originally thought, if he had really just considered saying that to Seiji. He barely let those thoughts even finish in his head most of the time.

Seiji let out a small yawn into his arm.

“Seiji,” Nick said, finally trying to get Seiji’s attention.

Seiji either didn’t hear him or ignored him. Nick assumed it was the latter.

He walked into Seiji’s half of the room to get his attention. “Jesus, Seiji, it’s one in the morning,” he said.

Seiji froze for a moment. Then he took his headphones off.

“I’m aware,” Seiji said, tone deaf and his eyes never leaving his laptop.

“What are you doing?”

“Homework,” Seiji snapped.

Seiji should have known by now that his attitude wouldn’t deter Nick. “Why are you doing homework this late?” Nick asked, yawning.

Seiji let out another small yawn in exchange. “I wanted to get it done, before practice tomorrow. Dmytro knows I fence best with a clear head and I’ll be able to clear my head once I get some assignments out of the way.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Nick said.

“You are up too,” Seiji said, now looking up from his laptop. “Why are you up?”

Nick blushed but in the dark Seiji most likely couldn’t see it. “I... I couldn’t fall asleep.”

Seiji scoffed. “Somehow I doubt that. I heard you snoring an hour ago.” He gestured to the headphones that he’d put on to block out Nick.

“Well, I’m awake now. Are you tired?” Nick asked.

There was something off about Seiji but he didn’t know if just ‘tired’ was the right word.

Seiji shook his head. “I’m hungry though.” He said it in passing, not like he meant Nick to do anything about it.

But right when Seiji said it, Nick got an idea. He’d heard from Aiden that there was a way to sneak into the kitchens after hours as a tip for anyone who got random cravings in the middle of the night. Eugene seconded Aiden’s advice and Harvard had pretended not to hear. But Nick put it away in the back of his mind until now.

“I’m hungry too,” Nick said.

“Don’t you have a drawer full of two-minute noodles you stole from Kally?” Seiji asked, his disapproval clear in his tone.  
Nick crossed his arms as if in defense. “I finished the last one. But I have an idea.”

Seiji looked up, waiting.

“The kitchens are open,” Nick said, raising his brows in question.

“No they’re not. They close at curfew.”

“That’s only a suggestion.”

“It’s a rule,” Seiji corrected.

“No,” Nick said as he shook his head. “It’s too late. I’ve decided. Let’s go.”

“I have work to do.”

Nick picked up the papers on Seiji’s bed and recognized the assignments. “Those aren’t due till Monday and you’ve been working for hours. You deserve a break.”

Seiji was silent for a moment but Nick took that as possibly a good sign. Was Seiji actually considering this? “Have you snuck into the kitchens before?”

Nick nodded. “Yep. Once with Eugene and Bobby and we didn’t get caught. I know Eugene and Aiden have snuck in there multiple times and never got caught either.”

Seiji sighed. “Fine, but only for a few minutes. I’m starving. Let’s go.”

Nick grinned and shrugged on a sweatshirt over his black sleep shirt.

They snuck out easily enough, since the campus was dead. The air was crisp, as the season was approaching fall. Seiji inhaled sharply, making Nick turn. “It’s cold,” he said as he wrapped his arms around himself.

Seiji’s hair fell in his face again and Nick was taken with the sudden urge to brush it back for him, but he kept his hands to himself. He just had to remind himself that Seiji didn’t see him like that. Seiji hadn’t been dreaming of Nick like Nick was of him.

Nick tried to play it cool to ignore his thoughts. “Duh,” Nick said with a laugh. “It’s almost October and it’s the middle of the night.”

“Well I’m not accustomed to being out in the middle of the night.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“This is a one time thing. I have no interest in engaging in whatever nonsense you and Eugene get into. Tonight is only because I’m hungry and you happened to be awake.”

Nick laughed at Seiji’s stuck up attitude. “You’re rude when you’re hungry.”

As if to prove Nick's point, Seiji scowled, but Seiji was scowling at his phone this time and not at Nick.

“What is it?” Nick asked.

“Dmytro just cancelled tomorrow’s practice. He’s sick.”

“Wow, you get an off day for once tomorrow. You can sleep past four in the morning.”

“I still have to train tomorrow. It just won’t be with Dmytro,” Seiji said, slipping his phone away. He turned to Nick, “Would you want to train tomorrow with me?” He sounded a little nervous, as if Nick would ever refuse. Nick hadn’t given him any reason to believe so, since Nick had been training with Seiji after their weekday practices for two weeks. But Nick had never overstepped during Seiji’s private practices, and now Seiji was inviting him to train.

Nick nodded. “Really? I can train with you?” He almost thought Seiji was joking.

“I just asked you, didn’t I?”

Nick rolled his eyes but he said, “I’ll train with you.”

Seiji nodded and they fell into a somewhat awkward silence until they saw the kitchens. Nick led the way, remembering Eugene's instructions.

They came up behind the cafeteria building with a metal door. The door was locked, but it had a keypad.

“You said the door was unlocked,” Seiji said, panic rising in his voice. He kept his arms crossed but Nick figured it was more due to being cold than anger.

“Well, I know a way to get them unlocked,” Nick said as he punched in the four digit code Aiden had somehow figured out. When asked, Aiden had just answered with some snooty response about how everything was easier with money in your pocket.

The door clicked open and Nick and Seiji snuck inside.

“This is a bad idea,” Seiji said, walking inside the kitchens. The lights were motion sensored so they automatically turned on, revealing bright white tile floor and large metal appliances.

“Relax,” Nick said, already walking around the kitchen. “The hard part’s over. What should we eat?”

Seiji shrugged. “Something fast. I feel like we are going to get caught.”

Nick wandered around the kitchen until he smelled something like fresh baked bread. He opened the cabinet and he saw fresh bagels, probably made for the morning.

“I found bagels,” he said to Seiji, who hadn’t moved since they’d entered the kitchens. Seiji was watching the door like it would open any second.

Seiji put a finger to his lips but Nick wasn’t too concerned. Seiji abandoned the door then stared at the bagels. “Yeah, bagels sound good.”

“Perfect,” Nick said, taking the bagels out and grabbing two.

“I’ll find the cream cheese,” Seiji said and walked over to the fridge. Well, what he assumed was the fridge. He opened the left side and was greeted by the cold air of a freezer. Nick turned and saw Seiji stare at something in the freezer for a second, and then close it and open the other side.

Seiji came back with a block of cream cheese in his hands.

“There was ice cream in the freezer wasn’t there?” Nick asked. During a team bonding exercise Harvard and Aiden insisted on doing, Seiji had let it slip that ice cream sundaes were his favorite food. Nick had joked about his sweet tooth in relation to his very not sweet personality only for Seiji to glare at him. He’d dropped it after that, but Nick didn’t forget.

“How did you know I like ice cream?” Seiji asked.

“I paid attention. And you’re not as subtle as you think you are,” Nick said. He rummaged around in drawers until he found two plates and a knife. He took a bagel in one hand and pressed the edge of the knife to the bagel. The knife slipped for a second, not enough to be considered a threat at all, but Seiji stiffened beside Nick.

“Let me do it,” Seiji said. He didn’t wait for Nick's answer and took the knife from his hands. “If you are going to fence with me in the morning, I’d rather you have all ten of your fingers.”

Nick gave it up and Seiji cut the bagels for them.

“We should get out of here quickly,” Seiji said as Nick began to spread the cream cheese on them.

“You can sleep in in the morning,” Nick said and handed Seiji his bagel. “You don’t have to wake up at four if you’re training with me.” Nick hoisted himself on the counter, since there was nowhere else to sit but the floor.

“I’m well aware,” Seiji said as he sat on the counter next to Nick. “You’re dead to the world every morning when I leave.“

“Aren’t you tired every morning?” Nick asked, tearing off a piece of his bagel.

Seiji shrugged. “I’m used to it now. I’ve been waking up early to train since I was thirteen.” He yawned, which went against his whole point.

“Shit,” Nick swore, taking in Seiji’s words. At Seiji’s alarm, Nick clarified. “I just forget sometimes how much farther ahead you, and everyone else on the team, are of me. I only started fencing about a year ago. I forget that you and the rest of them have been fencing since you were kids.”

Seiji was looking at him, his body slightly twisted on the counter. “You shouldn’t compare yourself to the rest of the team like that, Nicholas.” The way Seiji said his name, slightly commanding but caring, made Nick blush for a moment. Seiji was good with words when he wasn’t fighting with him. “You made it on the team just like the rest of us, you won against dozens of boys who’ve been training since they were kids too, and you made the team. And helped us win against MLC.”

“Thanks, Seiji,” Nick said. They finished their bagels and Nick realized he was still hungry. “I want ice cream,” Nick said. “You?”

Seiji hesitated, but nodded.

Nick scooped the ice cream into two bowls and handed one to Seiji, who was once again watching the door. Nick thought it was actually kind of cute the way Seiji was obviously craving it but had tried to hide it.

“How did you get into fencing?” Seiji asked.

Nick hesitated. He didn’t know how much to tell Seiji. It was so late at night that he considered telling Seiji the whole truth. There was a part of Nick that wanted to tell him just to tell someone at all.

Nick never even told his mom that he knew who his father was. He’d figured it out one day accidentally and had never gathered the courage to confront his mom.

He decided a half lie was better than nothing. “I just kinda always drifted towards fencing. I’d watch fencing videos or see fencing gear in store windows and I just... wanted to do that. I felt like I needed to. I found a coach who taught me the basics in exchange for work, so it worked out in the end.” Nick didn’t mention the newspaper clippings he had of Robert Coste, and how many times he’d watched old videos of Robert fencing at the olympics. Before Seiji could ask anything else, Nick asked, “How did you get into fencing?”

“My father,” Seiji said. Nick realized him and Seiji had that in common. “He thought it would be good for me to learn a sport at a young age. He didn’t expect me to like it so much, though. I think he wanted me to join something so I’d open up a little. I was always pretty quiet. Fencing didn’t actually help much with that, not that you’d find that surprising.” He’d gotten a touch defensive at the end, but Nick wondered if that was only because he’d shared more than he planned to.

“I always thought it was more of your talent that isolated you,” Nick said and then yawned. He’d heard it about a dozen times during tryouts and after Nick contemplated it himself, he thought the same. Seiji was talented and while Nick liked that about him, the majority of other fencers wouldn’t see that as a positive thing. They saw Seiji as a threat.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Seiji asked.

Nick laughed as he nodded. He shifted a little more towards Seiji, since having his legs hang off the counter had resulted in them going numb. “You are talented,” he said. “I meant what I said that one night. You are a champion.”

Seiji’s face went red but he smiled. It was rare to see him smile like that but Nick wished he could see it more often. Had Seiji smiled the first time Nick had called him a champion? Their stupid duck curtain had been blocking Seiji from him so Nick didn’t know. “Did you mean everything you said that night?” Seiji asked.

Nick tried to recall the rest of the conversation, but it was so late and his memory was lacking. “What do you mean?”  
Seiji pursed his lips before he spoke. “You said we were friends.”

“Of course we’re friends,” Nick said reassuringly. “You didn’t think we weren’t, did you?”

“No, I thought we were. I just wanted to make sure.”

“I wouldn’t invite you to break into the kitchens at one am if we weren’t friends. I would’ve let you starve.”

Seiji laughed, which was even rarer than his smile, as he shifted. Nick thought it was probably the lack of sleep that was getting to Seiji. They had always been able to talk to each other easier at night. Even if they did have that stupid curtain dividing their room, Nick always felt closest to Seiji when they were talking in their beds and their eyelids were barely open. Now they were able to talk without the barrier and Nick liked it even more.

Seiji fumbled in his attempt to climb off and wound up falling into Nick’s arm, if only for a second. “Sorry,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

Nick had tensed his upper body instinctively at the touch. “You’re fine.”

Seiji glanced at Nick. “You’re tensing your shoulder again. You were getting better at that.”

Nick rolled out his shoulders like he did during practice. “Better?” He asked Seiji.

“Better,” Seiji affirmed. “So what does that mean for us, now that we’re friends?”

Nick laughed. “What do you want, a rule book?”

“It’s not the worst idea. I know you have a ton of friends at this school, but outside of the team, I’m still learning, I guess.”

“Well, as friends, you’re welcome to sneak into the kitchen with me anytime, we can hang out when we’re not at school or fencing, you can stop yelling at me to clean the water off the bathroom floor—”

“No matter the title of our relationship, I expect that bathroom to be clean,” Seiji said. “You’re absolutely disgust—”

“What other title would we have?” Nick cut him off. Nick couldn’t help but grin through his question. He was definitely a little more tired now and perhaps a little braver.

Seiji’s face went red. “I just meant... we’re friends now.” After another moment he added, “I wouldn’t have offered to train if we weren’t.” Seiji didn’t look directly at Nick as he said it. Instead he looked at his empty bowl of ice cream.

Nick crossed his arms. “I thought you didn’t want to constantly look at my bad technique.”

“I didn’t,” Seiji said, “but I also thought you’d want to fix it. You should be thanking me, really.”

“Because you insulted my technique?” Nick said in a tone to indicate he was only kidding.

“It’s getting better. You’re not tensing your shoulder as much, I’ve noticed. You’re actually improving very fast.” Seiji paused but before Nick could thank him, Seiji said, “I didn’t know how to tell you this before, when I kept asking about Jesse, but, Nicholas... you’re an incredible fencer. There’s something about the way you fence that’s impressive. And it seems to come so naturally to you.” Seiji’s eyes were on Nick as he said it.

“When you say things like that, I’m not surprised I dreamt about you,” Nick said, his voice almost dazed. Then he froze. Fuck. He couldn’t believe he’d actually said that out loud.

Seiji had clearly heard because his body went rigid. “You dreamed about me?”

He nodded, glancing down at his empty bowl.

“Tonight?” Seiji asked.

Nick nodded again. Nick’s face heated at the dream. He couldn’t lie. He’d literally just confessed to dreaming about Seiji so he couldn’t take it back.

Before he could answer, Seiji asked again. “What happened in the dream?”

Nick swallowed hard. “Uh... in the dream... we may have almost, uh, kissed while we were fencing.”

Seiji flushed. “Did you kiss me or... did I kiss you?” He was leaning against the counter now, close to Nick.

“In the dream, I wanted to kiss you,” Nick said. He leaned his weight on the palms of his hands, like he couldn’t sit upright with the thought in his head.

Seiji shifted half an inch closer to the counter. “Only in the dream?”

Nick swallowed hard, trying not to go with the instinct in his gut that told him to kiss Seiji right then. He didn’t want to ruin the friendship he’d just affirmed with Seiji by scaring him away. But he wanted to be sure, what Seiji meant by his question and their “title” as he’d said before. So Nick answered. “Not only in the dreams.” His voice was quieter than expected.

“Dreams?” Seiji asked. “Plural?”

Nick’s blush only darkened. “Five to be exact. Though in the dreams, we never kissed. I just... wanted to kiss you. I didn’t want to assume anything.”

Nick felt his heartbeat lunge against his chest. Seiji’s face was only a few inches away from his, their eyes almost perfectly aligned, even though Nick was sitting on the counter. “All you have to do is ask,” Seiji said in a whisper.

Nick leaned in only an inch, though he still felt like he couldn’t breath. The words came out easier. “Can I kiss you?”

Seiji nodded and Nick kissed him lightly. One of his hands reached out to touch Seiji's neck, in equal parts to pull Seiji closer and to stabilize himself. Seiji leaned in at Nick's touch and caught Nick's shoulder.

They broke apart, both of them needing to catch their breath.

Nick couldn’t help but smile. “That was much better than what would’ve happened in my dream.”

Seiji smiled back. “What would’ve happened?”

“Well, I would’ve kissed you very unromantically. We were both in our fencing gear, even our masks. Then I tripped you and almost kissed you.” Nick left out the part where he had his épée near Seiji’s neck.

“That would have been very unromantic,” Seiji agreed. “Though you couldn’t trip me if you tried, so that was never a realistic option.”

Nick laughed. “If you keep training me, maybe one day I’ll be able to trip you up.”

Seiji opened his mouth to retort, but they heard a small sound and he went silent. It was the sound of keys jingling in the lock of the door that connected the kitchen to the cafeteria, not the door they’d come in through.

Seiji turned around with wide eyes.

“Shit,” Nick swore, hopping off the counter. He grabbed Seiji’s wrist and had them running faster than they had during suicides. They sprinted from the kitchen just as they heard the lock and didn’t stop until they had made it back to their dorm. They leaned against the inside of their door in exhaustion. They both yawned too, the run from the cafeteria had worn them out.  
Both Nick and Seiji were breathing heavily, but Nick let out a laugh at the end.

“We were almost caught,” Seiji said in shock.

Nick laughed again. “We’ll just have to go back another night.”

Seiji rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue. There would be other nights like this.

Then after they both caught their breaths, Seiji was staring back at Nick again. “Do friends want to kiss each other like that?” He asked.

“Not any friends that I’ve had,” Nick said. “I think there’s a different title for that.”

“And what would that be? Friends with benefits or something?” Seiji asked.

The word “something” sparked a realization in Nick. Seiji had told him two weeks ago that Jesse and him had been “something”, though he wouldn’t clarify. Nick wasn’t going to ask him to clarify even now either. Whatever was in the past was in the past. Nick didn’t believe Seiji held any strong feelings for Jesse now anyways. Seiji was here at Kings Row, not at Exton, to prove such.

But Nick was still left with the realization that maybe whatever happened with Jesse, left Seiji in desire of a clear title, for whatever it was him and Nick were. Seiji did not like being wrong, and Seiji had confessed that night that he’d gotten the wrong idea about the “something” with Jesse.

“Boyfriends?” Nick asked, casting aside thoughts of Jesse.

Seiji smiled at that. “I would like that.”

“Me too,” Nick said.

“But... would we still be able to do all of the friend stuff you talked about?” Seiji asked, taking down the curtain with a tug. The curtain fell to the floor and their room looked whole for once.

“Of course,” Nick assured him. “You’d be my friend and my boyfriend.”

Seiji nodded and Nick kissed his cheek softly, right below his beauty mark.

Seiji kissed him back on the forehead. “We should get some sleep if we are going to fence tomorrow.”

Nick nodded in agreement. Then he smiled wide. “Maybe tomorrow I’ll try the move I did in the dream.”

Seiji rolled his eyes. “Only in your dreams, Nicholas.”


End file.
